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Kingdom of Emeron
Kingdom of Emeron 'Geography' Emeron is a temperate area that is fairly isolated from the rest of the world of Goric. Along the west is the Grand Chasm, which prevents westward expansion, to the east are the Plains of Galmar, which is inhabited by hostile barbarians and monster races.To the north are the Dwarven Mountains which is claimed by the dwarves and gnomes and largely impassable. To the south is the Confederation of Halfling Shires which does have a shoreline, though it connects to the Jagged Knife Sea, which is aptly named and has a well earned reputation for wrecking ships. Two enormous rivers several miles across and deep cut through the kingdom. The Osquad River begins in the Dwarven Mountains north of the Duchy of Rupmon runs south. The Tribarc River also begins in the Dwarven Mountains somewhere east of the kingdom itself and runs southwest. The Two rivers join south of Emeron City to create the Long River, which runs south through the Confederation of Halfling Shires and ultimately emptying in the Jagged Knife Sea. The Kingdom of Emeron is divided up into four duchies, Rupmon to the west, Emeron to the northeast, Antyoch in the center and Imyan to the southeast. History Previous to the year 0 MR (Modern Reckoning) The region that is now the Kingdom of Emeron consisted of a variety of independent lordships, city states, tribal structures and other various polities. The Dwarves, Elves and Halflings for the most part kept to themselves, interacting only with their immediate neighbors. The Kingdom of Emeron came into being as a unified nation that included the Halfling Shires, the Glave Woods, the Dwarven Mountains and what is now the Brokenback Swamps in the year 0 MR under the legendary figure Emeron I aka Emeron the Conqueror. Emeron, a leader from the Plains of Galmar, led his armies west to take over the disorganized and scattered locals. His war chiefs were granted the areas that later became known as the duchies of the kingdom, each named after the war chief in questions: Rupmon, Antyoch, Yodsik, and Imyan. Emeron the Conqueror retained the duchy of Emeron for himself. The Dwarves, Elves and Halflings agreed to swear fealty as long as they could maintain general autonomy and became additional duchies in the kingdom, each under the rule of their previous rulers but owing fealty to the King. Emeron had his mages create the heavily enchanted Crown of the Monarch as a symbol of the ruler of the Kingdom of Emeron. Hundreds of years later in 317 MR an especially harsh bout of the Red Plague killed thousands, including the Royal Family. To avoid a civil war in 325 MR the assembled nobles held a grand Royal Tournament for those making a claim to the throne. The elf Ubulos, Duke of Glavewood, won and became king, ruling for the next 265 years. During this time he passed many laws slowly elevating the status of elves above those of other races, to the point that even assaulting another elf was a capital offense. The kingdom fell to civil war as detractors were rallied by a rebel leader named Wibil Agyar. King Ubulos and the royal family were killed and any elves found were killed by the rioting mobs. By 590 any surviving elves had fled the kingdom, mostly back to the Glave Woods and Wibil was named King of Emeron, and though he sent some assaults into the fortified woods for the most part he focused on recovering from the civil war. In 592 an elven assassin killed King Wibil I and his son Wibil II renewed attacks into the Glave Woods with a vengeance, personally leading attacks and burning the forest behind him. In 603 Wibil II was killed during an attack and his son Uvrug I attempted to broker a peace with the elven leaders. Sadly the elves felt it was a trap and killed Uvrug and his entourage in in 612 in what is known as the Massacre of Treebend. The new king was the 10 year old Wibil III, with Duke Isgim of the duchy of Yodsik acting as regent. Duke Isgim sought vengeance against the elves for the death of Uvrug on a peaceful mission and massed all available troops to march into the woods, burn them and destroy the elves once and for all. As the armies were ready to march however an elven wizard named Livrinth performed the most powerful spell anyone had seen. The result destroyed not only Duke Isgim’s armies but the entire duchy of Yodsik itself. All that remains of the once proud land is now known as the Brokenback Swamps. Duke Isgim himself, fortunately, was in the capital city at the time. In 618 Wibil III took the throne and signed a ceasefire with Glavewood Elves. Most historians consider this a prudent (if unpopular) move, as much of the kingdom’s standing army and resources were wiped out in Yodsik. Duke Isgim objected to peace with the elves, however, and stole the Crown of the Monarch and attempted to take the throne so he could eradicate the elves. It is worth noting that he had a decent enough sized following due to the rage at the loss of Yodsik and all the citizens there that he was a serious threat to King Wibil’s rule. In 620 Isgim was defeated and captured but the Crown of the Monarch was lost. Between the loss of the Crown, the military losses fighting the elves, and the fracturing of the kingdom after Isgim’s rebellion the kingdom disbanded with each duchy ultimately becoming its own principality. The dwarves, elves and halflings continued to govern themselves as they had before the kingdom rose, but politically separated themselves from the rest of the kingdom since there was no king. Without the Crown of the Monarch no one was considered as having sufficient claim to the Throne of the united Emeron, though Wibil still claimed he was the rightful ruler he was mostly ignored by the other principalities. Many nobles quested for the Crown hoping to use it to unite the principalities into a kingdom again, but it was not seen again for over 450 years. In 1073 the Crown of the Monarch surfaced during the Battle of Unity which saw the principalities at war due to the plans of some villains to put an undead Prince Imyan (the first Duke of Imyan raised from death as a death knight) on the throne. The Heroes of Unity fought the traitors and Joslin Woodbridge, the current Prince of Imyan at the time (who had nothing to do with the plot and had been imprisoned and replaced with an impostor), emerged as a hero of the battle and became King of a united Emeron. The Dwarves of Thorgain and the Confederation of Halfling Shires declined to rejoin the kingdom and the Elves of the Glavewood were not invited. King Joslin skillfully saw the kingdom through the reintegration process. He oversaw the early years of the new kingdom with wisdom, fairness and kindness. He became known as Joslin the Uniter and many mourned his passing in 1093. Joslin’s daughter Prenzla succeeded him until her own death in 1120 when Joslin’s grandson Koris became king. By 1129 The Kingdom was thriving in spite of a brief return of several divine artifacts that heralded an attempt at a magical invasion from another dimension. The attempt was stopped by the Heroes of Prophecy and things were relatively good for the kingdom for many years afterwards. King Joslin’s grandson Koris reigned and continued his father’s work of integrating the duchies of Emeron and keeping the old feuds as well as new disagreements from tearing the kingdom apart. He maintained and even expanded trade relations and diplomatic channels with the Dwarves of Thorgain and the Halfling Shires, and even opened a tentative dialogue with the Elves of the Glavewood thanks to the assistance of the legendary pixie ambassador (and Hero of Unity and Hero of Prophecy both) Dandy Lion. Koris continues to rule to this day at the age of 65, looking at the further expansion of the realm west past what is known as the Grand Chasm, a magnificent chasm that had, until recently, proven quite difficult (and costly) to traverse. The king is quite sick, however, and few know how long he has left and since he has no male heirs it is whispered that his wife, Queen Merey, will take over upon his death even though by rights the throne should pass to the king’s eldest daughter, Princess Joycie. Others state that Joycie may take over as queen but will be a figurehead with her mother Merey and her husband, Baron Geoffrey Ravenut, acting as the true powers behind the throne. Duchies of Emeron Emeron was divided into five duchies under Emeron I, though only four survive to this day. The fifth duchy, Yodsick, was destroyed by the elves of the Glave Woods and became the Brokenback Swamps.The surviving douches are Emeron, Rupmon, Antyoch and Imyan. Duchy of Emeron The duchy of Emeron is the heartland of the kingdom. It stands in between the fork where the Osquad River and the Tribarc River split. To the North is the Dwarven Mountains and other than bridges or going through the mountains it is not possible to cross into or out of the duchy by land. Many ships do cross the respective rivers with travelers to and from the capital however. The land is fertile and travel down the rivers creates a lot of trade. The famed Wizard’s College of Emeron is located in the capital city and many wizards come here to study (and often stay here for continued research if they can get a position at the College.)There are three baronies in this duchy: Emeron, Lurinlund, and River’s Edge, Duchy of Rupmon Rupmon is the largest of the duchies in Emeron and is located on the western portion of the Kingdom. It is situated south of the Dwarven Mountains and the Tribarc and Long Rivers make up the eastern border all the way down to the Brokenback Swamps. Past the river/eastern border are Emeron, Antyoch and the Glave Woods. Its western border is marked by the Grand Chasm, which can only be crossed via flight, though King Koris has initiated an enormous project to build a bridge to cross the Grand Chasm, it was not yet completed by 1159. There are four baronies within Rupmon: Sellingsburg, Fishton, Reikland and Rupmon itself.The economy of the estate is primarily agriculture, as the duchy has some of the most fertile soil in the kingdom. In the north there is some mining in the hill regions. Naturally the eastern portions focus on sailing and fishing. Lately a great many craftsmen have gathered in the west in response to the King’s call to build an enormous bridge to cross the Grand Chasm. It is considered the most rural of the duchies. Duchy of Imyan The Duchy of Imyan is located in the southernmost part of the kingdom. To the west are the Glave Woods and the Brokenback Swamps. The Plains of Galmar stretches to the east. To the south is Bandit Woods and beyond that the Halfling Shires. The long Plains Road that connect Imyan and the Duchy of Antyoch are technically under the jurisdiction of Imyan but in practice the jurisdiction is split evenly between the two duchies and patrols from both duchies are common on the road.There is trade along Plains road but the soil of the duchy is not nearly as rich as Emeron or Rupmon. Horse breeding in the central parts of the duchy help the local economy. Imyan also produces many fine warriors as was since it is surrounded by enemies or potential enemies on all sides and thus spends a lot of time training men and women to defend their land. Imyan is considered the duchy that produces the best warriors, riders and horses in the kingdom. There are four baronies in Imyan: Imyan, Hibbon, Wrellen and Federan. Duchy of Antyoch The Duchy of Antyoch is located to the Southeast of the Duchy of Emeron. It follows the Osquad River on the west as far south as the Glave Woods, with the Plains Road heading south to Imyan East of the woods. To the north and east Antyoch borders the Plains of Galmar. Since raids by the barbarians who live on the plains are not uncommon three forts dot (Fort Riverwatch, Fort Plainswatch and Fort Defense) the eastern border and the area in between them is regularly patrolled. Like Imyan, Antyoch tends to produce many warriors who are well familiar with fighting barbarians and monsters from the Plains of Galmar and they are often capable in building and maintaining fortifications to supplement the defense. There are four baronies: Antyoch, Treebend, Tralpar and Plainswatch. Heraldry of Emeron Each noble family has its own sigil or charge. The background is typically a plain field of a specific color. If, however, the family has sworn an oath of fealty to a liege lord, the background will change to match that of the land’s crest. For example, those who own land and swear fealty to the Baron of Lurinlund (and, indeed, the Baron’s crest as well) will have a red field with a white bend behind their personal family sigil. The Royal Crest essentially becomes the ruling family’s crest entirely. When the Woodbridge line came to the Throne their personal crest of a wolf on a green field also became the Royal Crest, with green becoming the official royal banner color. Inheritance A lord’s title and lands are passed to the eldest surviving son, unless special care has been taken to disinherit the eldest son, which is rare. If a lord has no sons, his eldest surviving daughter will inherit the position. On such an occasion, the woman keeps the family name, even if she marries, so the lands and title remain in the same family name throughout history. A family name is only removed as the land’s rulers if the family dies out entirely or if the liege lord strips the family of their holdings. When an eldest daughter and heir gets married, her husband will retain a position of honor and respect in the house and be granted the honorary title of “lord”, but he will never inherit the title and lands unless his wife and all her siblings and blood relatives die. Even then, he would only act as regent until his own son or daughter came of age. Only if there are no surviving children, spouse, siblings or other blood relatives can a marriage bond be the grounds for inheritance and even then a liege lord can deny the inheritance and declare the land open for a new appointment. Knights and Lords A lord is someone who has been given or inherited a title and tract of land by a liege lord and, by extension, commands and manages that land. A lord who has martial prowess and capability will often also be knighted. Knights who are not also lords technically carry a lesser rank than a lord but on a battlefield a lord who is not also a knight will often defer to an actual knight given the likelihood of the knight’s greater military experience and martial ability. Such a decision is entirely at the lord’s pleasure however. Some warriors in service of a liege lord are knighted and granted the title of Sir or Dame, but no inheritance or lands (though they are often paid by their liege lords).The rank of the liege lord who granted the title does add prestige and rank to the knight. For example, a Royal knight (granted his knighthood by the Crown directly) will have higher prestige and power than a knight who was granted his knighthood by a duke, who in turn would have more power than a knight granted his title by a baron. Lords of individual estates cannot grant knighthoods (though they may also be knights of their barons or dukes or even the king themselves). Knights can pass judgment on crimes committed within their liege lord’s lands and are called upon to fight for their lords. Specific knights may have other duties as dictated by their liege lord. A baron, duke, or landed lord always outranks a knight, even a royal knight. Some noble positions, such as Baron or Duke, can be held by knights as well but the title of baron or duke would apply rather than knight since a Baron or Duke outranks a knight. In formal settings they would have both titles recognized (“Duke Sir name” or “Baroness Dame name” for example.) Knights who are not currently in the employ of a household and do not hold land are called “Hedge Knights” and are only one step up from mercenaries or sell-swords and often are only mercenaries or sell-swords who were given a title for deeds performed for some high noble in the kingdom. Family of a lord is often granted the honorary title of Lord or Lady as well, but they are technically not a lord unless they directly manage a tract of land granted by a liege. Even if a noble’s spouse is granted the title of knight, they are still legally subordinate to their landed spouse. Courts and Households Each estate has its own positions and appointments and each manor will have its own staff to run it. See a brief rundown below. Lord is used as a general term here, even though it may be referring to a Baron, Duke or even the King. Estate Positions Lord/Lady: This is the ruler of the estate. His or her word is law and they are answerable only to their liege lord(s). Heir: Who is next in line to inherit, should the current Lord/Lady die. As described above often it is the eldest son (or daughter if no son is living). In cases of a childless lord the next eldest brother (or sister if there are no brothers) is heir. On rare occasions a lord will specifically designate an heir that is not their child, but this tends to cause inheritance disputes if the Lord/Lady had children who were disinherited. First Knight: This is a position of prestige as the Lord’s most trusted knight who is often called upon to be the Lord’s direct voice and hand on matters that may demand a Lord’s response but a Lord’s responsibilities prevents personal involvement. The First Knight may be sent on diplomatic, military or local issues or anything beyond or in between. They are often also granted one of the better estates and castles by their liege lord. Since only Barons, Dukes and the King can grant knightly titles, there is a limited number of First Knights in the Kingdom. Chamberlain: Serves as the Lord’s right hand in all matters, and everyone save for the Lord ultimately reports to him. Obviously this must be someone that the Lord has implicit trust in. Often a Chamberlain is the final person to decide if someone gets an audience with a Lord or not. Chancellor: Oversees day to day government operations of the estate(s) for the Lord and handles the bureaucracy. Exchequer: Handles all financial matters for the Lord’s lands. Justicar: Oversees magistrates, Sheriff, Prosecutor and Forrester for the Lord. Strictly speaking magistrates (and even the Justicar) can be overruled by a knight of sufficient rank when it comes to overseeing a trial or dispensing justice, but running roughshod over local authorities may get the respective liege lord(s) directly involved and lead to an incident. Marshal: Commander of armed forces and local guard. A Marshal will usually assign a Captain of the Guard for local town or manor house matters unless it’s a small estate, in which case he’ll usually handle the duties personally. Likewise in an especially large state a Marshal may assign a general (or more if necessary) to see to the day to day command of the armies. Inquisitor: The estate’s spymaster. Typically the Inquisitor will have a number of agents, informants and spies but they are often dealt with quietly and clandestinely. After all a known spy is a useless one. Court Mage: Adviser on magical issues. Not all lords have a court mages as it tends to be expensive and even having one is a sign of great prestige. Most local lords will not have one, though barons might, if they can afford it and find one. Dukes are likely to have one and the Crown will certainly have a court mage. Chaplain: Adviser on religious matters. Usually they are also head of the local church of Akana. Their actual power at court will tend to vary based on how religious the Lord is and how politically savvy and able the chaplain is, but even the most atheistic lord will at least pay lip service to the local Akana church and, thus, the chaplain. Household Positions Castilian: Supervisor to the basic cleaning and household management. Often the right hand to the lord in regards to day to chores for running the castle or manor house. Sort of like a head butler. Squire: Many lords will have a squire, a boy (or sometimes girl) of noble birth (or, rarely, common birth but the family has performed some extraordinary service for the lord) who is being fostered in the ways of knighthood in return for service to the lord. Barons, Dukes and the King are likely to have multiple squires. They handle the maintenance of the Lord’s armor, weapons, personal steed(s) and any other miscellaneous tasks that the Lord requires. Stable Master: Maintains the horses and stables for the lord. Guard Captain: the commander of the men at arms of the estate. They will usually answer directly to the Marshal. In smaller estates the marshal will sometimes also act as the captain of the guard. Chief Steward: in charge of the kitchen and cooking staff. Other: Depending on a lord’s tastes and finances there may be other household positions such as a kennel master or a falconer or a minstrel, these tend to vary from household to household though. Category:Emeron Category:Nations